[It's good liquor, he'll find, should he give it a swig. If he likes vodka it may very well be the best he's ever tasted. Could be the magic, could be the fact that this place is a dream, could just be how Lup imagines it. Tasted or not, the alcohol carries with it a wave of overwhelming emotions: nostalgia, regret, love, family-
She's been dreading this part all day; it's been in the back of her mind all along, though she's done her best to suppress it and let Taako's surprises be her focus. He'd done so, so wonderfully. First that amazing breakfast in bed, then the water fight in the park, then the chance to set that shitty DMV ablaze, and now this: her favourite meal, with her favourite person. She'd never had a single doubt in her mind that he'd fail. He'd given her exactly what she'd asked him for, the best day ever. A perfect memory.
Now she owes him the truth.
"We're gonna become liches."
The words are hard to say aloud, and the reaction he gives in return - the one she knew was coming - is why. She can't blame him, because it is scary, even if she trusts the research they've done, trusts the method and the process and the notes and everything. Trusts the memories that the two of them have given her to protect her sanity. The danger is still very real- liches are dangerous, absurdly powerful. Liches are… monsters, in the technical sense. And if this goes wrong they could put the whole mission in jeopardy, ruin everything they've worked towards for eighty-two years.
It's why this day was so, so important.
"I love him, Taako, with all of my heart, but you… I needed a day from you because you are my heart. You know that, right?"
The ease with which he agrees warms her to the core, and she smiles softly as their hands entwine. Taako's half of who she is, her heart and her soul, and she knows she couldn't have chosen a better anchor. Even if he's scared - even if they both are, at least a little - she trusts in this bond they've carefully cultivated together over the last 200 years. She won't ever lose him. He won't ever lose her.
She accepts the bottle from him and downs the first swig without hesitation, glad to have it; with the stress of having to tell him finally eased, she can relax and enjoy the rest of her night with him. She can give Barry the go-ahead, they can retrieve the whale bone and prepare the ritual. They'll be changed, soon, but they won't be different. And long as she has him, as long as she has her other half, she knows she'll be able to hold on to her soul.
It'll be fine.
----------------
[When the memory ends, the bottle is half-empty. It hadn't lasted long that night.]
grey goose
-and a memory.]
She's been dreading this part all day; it's been in the back of her mind all along, though she's done her best to suppress it and let Taako's surprises be her focus. He'd done so, so wonderfully. First that amazing breakfast in bed, then the water fight in the park, then the chance to set that shitty DMV ablaze, and now this: her favourite meal, with her favourite person. She'd never had a single doubt in her mind that he'd fail. He'd given her exactly what she'd asked him for, the best day ever. A perfect memory.
Now she owes him the truth.
"We're gonna become liches."
The words are hard to say aloud, and the reaction he gives in return - the one she knew was coming - is why. She can't blame him, because it is scary, even if she trusts the research they've done, trusts the method and the process and the notes and everything. Trusts the memories that the two of them have given her to protect her sanity. The danger is still very real- liches are dangerous, absurdly powerful. Liches are… monsters, in the technical sense. And if this goes wrong they could put the whole mission in jeopardy, ruin everything they've worked towards for eighty-two years.
It's why this day was so, so important.
"I love him, Taako, with all of my heart, but you… I needed a day from you because you are my heart. You know that, right?"
The ease with which he agrees warms her to the core, and she smiles softly as their hands entwine. Taako's half of who she is, her heart and her soul, and she knows she couldn't have chosen a better anchor. Even if he's scared - even if they both are, at least a little - she trusts in this bond they've carefully cultivated together over the last 200 years. She won't ever lose him. He won't ever lose her.
She accepts the bottle from him and downs the first swig without hesitation, glad to have it; with the stress of having to tell him finally eased, she can relax and enjoy the rest of her night with him. She can give Barry the go-ahead, they can retrieve the whale bone and prepare the ritual. They'll be changed, soon, but they won't be different. And long as she has him, as long as she has her other half, she knows she'll be able to hold on to her soul.
It'll be fine.
[When the memory ends, the bottle is half-empty. It hadn't lasted long that night.]